Thursday, May 24, 2007

Crazy Lottery; Conference Finals; Snowrat Mails; Idiot

So the Trail Blazers got lucky on tuesday night, thanks to ping-pong balls coming out of the hole and one envelope. Now, let’s name them Portland Greg Blazers because it’s obvious that ‘the chosen one’ Greg Oden will be in the Blazers uniform come training camps in october. And the Celtics franchise and fans got devastated, with only a pick no. 5 when they had a 20% shot at landing the first choice. Kevin Durant is about to be a SuperSonic... Hasn’t he been a SuperSonic before this lottery?!

What a bad month for Phoenix - losing the Star Wars to San Antonio (‘Evil Empire’) and now losing the lottery pick in the loaded draft. Did you heard that sound from the Suns office? Mike D’AntiAntonio just tried to destroy a TV-set there with Molotov cocktail. Atlanta has two 2007 picks now and it seems that the future looks brighter.

Sometimes it’s just not good to tank it down the stretch... look at Memphis’ sky filled with black clouds or the same in Milwaukee (not to mention the Boston Debacle). This karma stuff seems to be real. The Bulls have not-so-high no. 9 - it averted the possibility of anarchy by the Knicks fans in NY. But that would be a unforgettable show...

Speaking of the show... the western conference should be renamed to Major League NBA and the eastern to Minor League NBA. The quality of play in the East was so weak this year and it’d be better (for the league) if both Oden and Durant ended up in there. But that won’t happen and that means two things - an ultra high competitive West and a terrible East. Now here’s the question - is it FAIR at all? Nope. Have in mind that Cleveland, one of the better teams from ‘E’, for example, would have (in the ‘W’) BIG problems even to get to the playoffs in 2008.

And what about 2008 All-Star Game? Add those two guys to the roster and you have only ten spots left.

Personally, this tuesday night put me in the bad mood. Why? I desperately wanted Oden or Durant in Boston (a perfect basketball city) or whatever East team (for the reasons above). The West will be frickingly loaded. Dammit. San Antonio is going to battle 3 or 4 times a season against Greg/KD. Is it good or bad?

Last thought on the lottery/draft: I’m pretty interested how the Celtics are going to use their pick. Is there a chance they want Yi Jianlian? One other thing I know: Atlanta will draft Mike Conley Jr., the best PG in the Draft.

On the conference finals: LeBron needs and have to be more aggressive going to the basket. That’s the priority number one for him and the Cavs for Game 2. They’re not beating the Pistons without that. I mean, NO FREE THROWS in the entire game for James?! Unexcusable. I don’t think Mike Brown is a good coach for LBJ. Yes, he’s a passable defensive coach but... how to explain that LeBron didn’t get the ball when he was on the move in Game 1? On the other side, the Cavaliers did a great job on Billups’ screen-and-rolls - doubling him. One has to wonder if Pistons have five gears, which one of these buttons was pushed on monday? 3?! They looked extremely passive (with the exception of Hamilton’s scoring). Ilgauskas had his way with Webber. But that wasn’t enough ‘cause Detroit knows how to hit some huge big shots. The Cavs could have won but Marshall missed his crucial trey from the corner (what would have been a triple-double for James).

Back in november I changed a few e-mails with my buddy Snowrat, who worked then in Antarctica. The Jazz were 10-1 and sitting in the driver’s seat of standings. (Look at ‘Blogville’ on the right top of this site, then click on ‘November’.) Now he’s in SLC and waiting for Game 3, SA at Utah.

Here’s the transcript of our latest communication:

~ [me, 'FiCS']# [John, 'Snowrat']~ Welcome to the real world man!# I’m happy to be there.~ Remember our november mails?# Yeah. I wrote that if Jazz are in the conf finals against Spurs, I’m back and in the arena.~ Does Santa Claus exists?# I believe so.~ Any thoughts on Deron Williams?# Fan-tas-tic. When Bowen’s on him, he’s some trouble, but... Bruce won’t be on the court forever.~ And Boozer’s teriffic. He reminds me of that grizzly from Alaska...# The fun is he’s actually from Alaska. But I don’t think we have much of a chance facing Spurs.~ You wouldn’t be so pesimistic.# I know. However, we gotta show much more... Okur, Fisher, Kirilenko... and win the battle of boards.~ Absolutely. Are u gonna be in the EnergySolutions Arena?# Yep. That powder-blue crowd is awesome. I just wonder who came with that arena name...~ Hmm... back in 2003 we had a new SBC Center and we won it all.# I just don’t have any sympathy in naming it ES Arena. How are your feelings after the Phoenix War?~ Kind of funny and beautiful.# I do not know why’s there so much buzz about that Horry’s foul?~ Because it was on Nash.# Ridiculous. Stoudemire & Diaw clearly left the bench and everybody know the punishment.. Horry got 2 games and those Warriors trio, with worse fouls on our Jazz players, got free pass.~ The league screwed it up. They shouldn’t have punished anybody for Game 5. # But, overall, why are Suns whining? They lost 3 games. They won one game in the clutch thanks to sheer genius of Nash plus one game at home. Put Game 5 away and SA is still better. With Duncan in no foul touble, there’s no way Suns are better than Spurs.~ No question about it. But the league and fans want to see some high-powered offense to win rings.# When they’ll figure it out? This offnse thing just doesn’t work in the money time. Never.~ Lottery?# Wow! We know what will happen with 1 and 2. And I counted that we’ll have some Division titles in the next seasons. NBA is on the way up. Northwest with Sonics (Durant), Blazers (Oden), then Jazz, Phoenix, LA Clubs, Warriors, Nuggets, Hornets, obviously Spurs, Mavs, Rockets. Even the East is on the (slow) way up.~ But everything’s in the West, dude. Have you seen some 2007draft prospects?# Great class. I’ve watch some tapes from this year’s college season. Corey Brewer, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Conley Junior…~ You forgot Yi...# Can I say somethin’? I don’t believe in him much. But with Atlanta’s 3rd pick... top three is possible.~ Brandan and Julian Wright, Jeff Green. Have you somebody yet?# Acie Law IV. He’s a perfect fit for NBA. Kings should take him as no. 10 and then send Bibby elsewhere. Law plus Kevin Martin as a backcourt. I think there’s nothing to lose.~ We’re headed for another showdown Detroit-Cleveland. Have Cavs any hope?# This is the last chance for them. This is a must-win. Trailing 2-0 against Detroit is catastrophic. Yes, they’re going home, but don’t rely on that much. I’ll root for James today. He’ll crack 25.~ And Utah on saturday? # I guarantee you here: We’re gonna win Game 3 and the fans, including me, are gonna rip your Silver&Black. But again, realistically, we’re losing 1-4 or 2-4 in the end. Good luck in the Finals.~ Thanks. That’s all. Be careful with your vocal cords. Bye.# This is the last time for 10 years Jazz are in the Western Finals - I have to be LOUD!:)

The king of Idiocy: In case you missed it, former Suns player and current ESPN.com contributor Paul Shirley offered a stunner - "I can't imagine how anyone could root for the Spurs. It would be like cheering for cancer. Of course, they're really effective (unfortunately, so is cancer), but I don't know if a roster of such easily disliked basketball players has ever been assembled. Tim Duncan might be one of the greatest players of all time, but the constant bug-eyed complaints and the mumps-cheeks make him borderline unwatchable."

Thanks for your comments, Paul. And enjoy watching > your saint Suns fishing, then dumping Stoudewhiner or Marion, suffering another 3-4 years of frustration until St. Nash is done, kicking D’Antoni out of the city, how Oden and Durant will be killing them in the West in the next decade and finally, having ZERO titles in the next 15 years. I guess you’ve got a cancer in your brain. That’s what moronic idiots have.

p.s.: in both games 1 and 2, it's almost as if the spurs got bored with how effortlessly they could whip utah. (-charley rosen)